In 2019 in France, physical attacks against homosexuals increased by 66%. Despite this reality, few victims of homophobic attacks file a complaint. Because LGBT victims don’t find much support at police stations. The few complaints that are filed end up being dropped mostly because of lack of consideration for gay issues by the judical system in general. If victims are not heard, homophobia can not be fought.

To change the system, we decided to put pressure on people that shape the system : politicians. So we decided to launch a viral campaign and created a tool for french citizens to express the change they wanted : the Rainbow Plaster, followed by a strong claim : #HomophobiaStillStrikes (in french : #LHomophobieFrappeToujours).

We distributed the Rainbow Plasters boxes for free in every Aides office. Despite the 500 000 plasters producted, we ran out of stock. So we created a filter, a virtual Rainbow Plaster, that people can add on their face to continue to spread their concern.

The campaign has been lauched via the Aides social medias. A short animated video presented the concept of the plaster and announced where they were available. 50 000 boxes of 10 Rainbow Plasters have been distributed in every Aides office in the whole country. The Rainbow Plaster filter was available on Facebook and Instagram. The campaign was national.

500 000 plasters have been distributed for free. Thousands of people posted pics of them with the Rainbow Plaster on social medias, quickly followed by influencers such as actors, photographers, singers, instagramers, TV and radio hosts. The Rainbow Plaster became a national symbol of protest against homophobia during popular events. Our petition to change the judicial system received over 150 000 signatures and the campaign reached a total of 140 000 000 media impressions. Thanks to the popular and mediatic success of the campaign, the topic arrived at the National Assembly, and finally politicians budged. Two big measures have been taken by the government : partnerships with associations that enable intervention in police stations and gendarmeries for the care of victims, and also the creation of an online pre-complaint system.